Garments are typically manufactured from textiles which are made from a yarn that has been stiffened with various agents, such as corn starch and mixtures of corn starch with binders. Such treatment of the yarn makes it easier to handle and, in particular, to weave the yarn into a fabric. In addition, the resulting fabric has substantial body and stiffness, which simplifies cutting of the fabric and sewing it into garments. The stiffened yarn is therefore preferred for the manufacture of textiles, as well as for the manufacture of garments from the textiles.
However, garments manufactured from the stiffened textile tend to be quite rigid and uncomfortable to the wearer, and they also tend to be unnaturally hard to the touch. With certain types of textiles, for example, denim, the stiffness and coarseness to the touch are particularly pronounced. For this reason, "pre-washed" denim garments have become increasingly popular in recent years, and consumers have been willing to pay a premium price for denim garments, in which the stiffness has been removed and the softness to the touch or "hand" has been improved.
Moreover, the manufacture of a pre-softened fabric, particularly denim, has, until now, involved considerable time and expense on the part of garment manufacturers. For presoftening, the completed garment is washed, under continuous agitation, in an enzyme solution which removes the stiffening agents. Thereafter, a softening agent is added to the fabric rinse, in order to improve its hand. This entire cycle takes approximately 30 minutes. It is therefore necessary to turn the garment inside out, in order to avoid damaging the finished side of the garmet during this rather long period of time that the garment is constantly agitated. Thereafter, the garment is turned right-side out, is dried, and is pressed.
Not only does pre-washing of garments required capital expenditures in manufacturng equipment, but it is necessary to retain the necessary chemicals within the laundry room of the garment factory. In addition, a substantial amount of water is utilized in pre-washing, and substantial amounts of energy are utilized in pre-washing and in drying. Since it requires in excess of 30 minutes to pre-wash and dry garments, and this is a substantially long period of time in the production cycle, the throughput rate of finished garments is substantially adversely affected. Also, additional labor costs are involved in turning the garments inside out for washing and then right-side out after washing is completed. All of these factors add substantially to the cost of the garment, making pre-washed denim products unduly expensive.
Broadly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a textile and a method of manufacturing the same which substantially avoids the disadvantageous associated with manufacturing prior art pre-softened garments.
It is specifically an object ot the present invention to provide a stiffened fabric and a process for manufacturing the same, which fabric may be softened by washing for a relatively short period of time in water only, without the addition of chemicals.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a stiffened fabric and a process for manufacturing the same, which fabric may be softened, without the use of softening chemicals after a garment has been manufactured from the fabric.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a pre-softened garment which is relatively inexpensive compared to prior art garments of this type, yet exhibits equivalent softness qualities.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a process for manufacturing a pre-softened fabric which is relatively inexpensive and reliable in use, yet results in a fabric exhibiting relatively high qualities of softness.
In accordance with the present invention, yarn to be utilized for the manufacture of pre-softened fabric is stiffened without the use of binding agents. Only corn starch and low temperature wax are utilized as stiffeners. Fabric manufactured from such yarn is then subject to a finishing process, in which enzymes capable of breaking down the corn starch and a wetter/rewetter are added to the fabric itself. These enzymes are activated during a subsequent soaking in water only, followed by agitation, whereby stiffness may be removed from the fabric in approximately 5 minutes.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, softeners are also added to the fabric during the finishing process. The softeners are also released during the subsequent garment washing operation. Preferably, the softeners include at least reactive silicon. This serves the additional purpose of lubricating sewing needles and cutting knives during the garment manufacturing process.
It is a feature of the present invention that stiffening agents can be removed from a finished garment by soaking and agitation of the garment in water only for a period of approximately 5 minutes.
It is another feature of the present invention that, not only does the reactive silicon add permanent softness to a garment manufactured from the fabric of the invention, but the lubrication it provides and the shortened agitation time reduce abrasiveness of the fabric, so that a garment does not have to be turned inside-out for the washing operation.
It is yet another feature of the fabric of the present invention that garments manufactured therefrom may be sold to the consumer in the rigid, unwashed state and will become soft and desirable with a single home washing by the comsumer.